Obama’s Foreign Policy Impacts 2014 Elections — Really

No, I am not going to try to make the case that foreign policy will be at the forefront of this year’s elections, or that international issues are a high priority for most Americans. They aren’t.

But foreign policy could have an indirect yet significant impact on the midterm elections, making the issue more relevant than you otherwise might assume.

The growing perception that President Barack Obama over-promised and has under-delivered on international issues could add to the already hardening perception that his presidency has not been an unadulterated success. And that’s not good for vulnerable Democrats as the elections approach.

For most partisan Democrats, the suggestion that the president has failed on foreign policy is simply mistaken. They will note that he ended two wars, in Iraq and Afghanistan, has taken steps to address the nuclear threat from Iran, and has tried to mobilize international opinion, and action, against military force used by Syria and Russia.

But even some Democrats have been critical of President Obama’s approach.

“…It’s been a mixed record,” said former Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta to the New York Times, “and the concern is, the president defining what America’s role in the world is in the 21st century hasn’t happened.”

Whatever you think about the Affordable Care Act, the president’s performance on jobs and the administration’s efforts to raise the minimum wage, extend unemployment insurance and enact “equal pay” legislation, the White House’s approach to foreign policy — most recently on Syria, Ukraine, Russia and Middle East peace — has too often seemed naïve.

In April of 2007, during his race for the White House against Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Obama told an audience at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, “The disappointment that so many around the world feel toward America right now is only a testament to the high expectations they hold for us. We must meet those expectations again, not because being respected is an end in itself, but because the security of America and the wider world demands it.”

Almost two years after that Chicago speech and a little more than two months into his presidency, Americans did believe that the new president had improved the United States’ image abroad. But those numbers have slipped noticeably since then.

In February of 2009, according to the Gallup Poll, more than two out of three Americans surveyed (67 percent) said that “leaders of other countries around the world have respect for Barack Obama.” One year later, only 56 perfect answered the same way, and a year after that a bare majority, 51 percent, said that the president was respected by other countries’ leaders.

That figure remained virtually unchanged in polling conducted in early 2012 and 2013, but this year, Gallup found only 41 percent of Americans believing that Obama was respected by leaders of other countries, while 53 percent said that those leaders “don’t have much respect” for Obama.

“Democrats and independents are mainly responsible for the slide in Obama’s ratings,” concluded Gallup’s Jeffrey M. Jones in a Feb. 24 post on the company’s website.

Obama’s poll numbers are still better than George W. Bush’s throughout most of his presidency, and Gallup found that even now, a narrow majority of Americans believe the United States rates favorably “in the eyes of the world.”

But the president’s declining job performance numbers on foreign policy in NBC News/Wall Street Journal surveys over the past few years is impossible to ignore. (See question No. 6 in the March 5-9 survey, here. It includes historical data.)

In May 2011, Obama’s net job approval as president was +11, while his job approval on handling the economy was a -21. But on his handling of foreign policy, the president’s job performance was a stunning +22 (57 percent approve/35 percent disapprove).

One year later, Obama’s net job approval was +2, while his job approval on his handling of the economy was -9. Once again, his job rating on foreign policy was measurably higher than both, with a net of +9 (51 percent approve/42 percent disapprove).

The same trend held in December of 2012 and April of 2013 NBC News/Wall Street Journal polls, though the differences in Obama’s net job approval on his overall performance, the economy and foreign policy were narrowing.

This March, the president’s performance in all three areas was almost identical. In fact, an identical 41 percent of respondents approved of his performance in his overall job, his handling of the economy and his handling of foreign policy.

Obama’s net approval as president was -13, while his net approval in handling the economy was -15 and his handling of foreign policy was -12 (41 percent approve/53 percent disapprove).

Are voters increasingly unhappy with the president’s foreign policy actions, or is the public’s general dissatisfaction with Obama’s performance poisoning their view of his foreign policy performance?

It doesn’t really matter.

Public dissatisfaction with the president’s handling of foreign policy is another problem for Democrats who need to generate a strong base turnout and also convince swing voters that the president and his party deserve their support in November.

The less happy voters (particularly Democrats and Independents) are about the Obama presidency, the more difficult it will be for Democratic strategists to achieve the results they want in the midterm elections.

This administration is the most corrupt in the history of this country. Holder will do nothing to stop it as he is right in the middle. He certainly won’t investigate himself. How about some credible examples?

Congress finds Holder guilty of Criminal Contempt (255 to 67) and Civil Contempt (258 to 95).
The Fast and Furious/Brian Terry Murder cover-up is just the most recent in a long line of cover-ups that Eric Holder has been involved in over the years. Holder cut his teeth on the art of cover-up with the Kenneth Michael Trentadue torture-murder case in the 1990s, learning the art of keeping facts out of the purview of the courts, media, public, and Congress.
Black Radical, Eric Holder Participated in armed takeover of former Columbia U. ROTC office.
Holder warned local Alabama sheriffs and police chiefs to tread carefully when enforcing a key provision of that state’s controversial immigration law.
Eric Holder has directed the DOJ not to enforce the federal Defense of Marriage Act. In doing so, Holder has violated his oath of office and clearly shows his violation of the laws of Nature and Nature’s God.
Fast and Furious-Holder is guilty of putting thousands of assault rifles into the hands of Mexican drug lords in an attempt to blame the American people for the crimes administration officials are guilty of contriving and committing. As a result, Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed, along with hundreds of Mexican civilians, including teens at a birthday party and a
Mexican beauty queen.
Soon after being sworn in as Obama’s attorney general, Holder ordered the voter intimidation case against the Black Panthers during the 2008 residential election to be dropped.
During his tenure as Clinton’s deputy attorney general, Holder was involved in the controversial pardon of Marc Rich, a major Democratic contributor and fugitive
for tax fraud. Holder advised Rich’s lawyer to bypass the normal pardon request procedures and take their plea directly to the White House. Holder also failed
to inform prosecutors that a pardon was in process for Rich, denying them the opportunity to intervene.
The Canada Free Press reported that against the express wishes of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the federal prosecutor, and the victims of the Boricua Popular Army, at Holder’s recommendation, Bill Clinton granted clemency to the 16 convicted terrorist group members.
Shied Credit Suisse Group AG-Allegedly, Holder and Breuer want to shield from federal criminal prosecution the bank, Credit Suisse Group AG, a client of the Washington-based law firm Covington & Burling, as well as key Democratic Party operatives suspected of playing a role in allegedly fraudulent mortgage financing and bank lending practices. Before joining the Department of Justice in the Obama administration, Holder and Breuer were partners at Covington &
Burling.
Benghazi-Terror Attack Tied to Eric Holder.
Holder- Knock Out Games-He looked the other way.
Voter Fraud-Justice Dept Refuses to Charge Woman Who Voted for Obama 6 Times. Eric Holder has done nothing to Melowese Richardson 410 days after she admitted on camera that she committed multiple federal felonies by voting six times for President Obama’s reelection. (She just happens to be black)
This could go on for pages and pages.

Rob_Chapman

The growing perception that President Barack Obama over-promised and has under-delivered on international issues could add to the already hardening perception that his presidency has not been an unadulterated success. And that’s not good for vulnerable Democrats as the elections approach.

This perception lies in the GOP’s conditioned response of bellicosity in the face of all foreign policy challenges. The President has done a good job of restraining hawks such as Senator John McCain and keeping the US out of the many conflicts reported in the press.

Come November, when the hyper-partisan exhortations of the GOP to pick fights with everyone are evaluated by the voters, common sense will prevail and the President’s policies will be ratified by the voters.

moderate Guy

Truth is a cold hearted b##ch. It will catch up, even with media protected Obama.

Sam Oiocha

Maintaining only those liberties useful to all restricts everyone else until once-free nations are reduced from vibrancy to melancholy.